The Eleventh Hour
by Bluebell67
Summary: Spoilers for seasons 11-13 of Supernatural A family member goes missing and it's a race against time to save them.
1. Chapter 1

Tick. Tick. Tick. The clock switched again, changing to 11:56. Four minutes left until midnight. The faint hum of the city outside, horns honking and people talking, could be heard from the street below. A bead of sweat fell down the forehead of the young man, struggling not to move. Duct tape was wrapped around his wrists, ankles, and chest, connecting the wires that could set it off at any movement. _It doesn't matter anymore,_ he thought. _At midnight, it's over._

It was 7:00 AM. Seventeen hours before.

"Hey!" Dean said, flipping the pancakes. "Pancake?"

"Chocolate chips?" Jack asked. Dean smiled.

"I didn't forget." He said. He grabbed the chocolate from the cabinet.

"Maybe Jack can have something healthy too?" Castiel said.

"Jack, you want fruit?"

"Fine." Jack said. He rolled his eyes. At least it made Cas feel better, even though Jack was sure that his body naturally took care of the fact that he only ate candy when Cas and Sam weren't looking. Either that, or Jack was going to get very sick soon. Sam walked into the kitchen, his hair messy and an exhausted expression on his face.

"Pancakes?" Sam asked.

"Yeah. Is mom up?" Dean asked. "I got ALL the bacon."

"She's still asleep. Can't blame her."

"Yeah. Sleep is awesome." Dean said. Sam smiled a little, but there was a hint of sadness in his eyes. Everyone knew about Sam's nightmares, especially since they lived with him and his screaming sometimes echoed through the Bunker, late at night. Someone would rush to wake him up, usually Cas. A lot of the time it was Dean. Sometimes Mary. Jack never did. He was worried he'd scare Sam. Jack had an idea of what Sam's nightmares were about, and he didn't want to make it worse.

"Get your plates." Dean said, serving up the pancakes. It was one of those rare moments in their hectic lives where everything was okay. Everyone was together. The food was good. They were safe. It was also one of those times in their lives that wouldn't last long.

10:00 AM.

"We've run out of bread. Can somebody run to the store?" Dean asked.

"Research." Sam muttered, writing things down in a notebook. Castiel was nowhere to be found. Mary was still asleep.

"Please?" Dean asked. "I've gotta stay here to make sure our lunch doesn't explode."

"I can go." Jack smiled.

"Really?" Dean asked. "You shouldn't go alone."

"I've got it. Back in a flash." Jack said. There was a breeze and the sound of wings, and Jack vanished. Dean frowned. Jack reappeared.

"Back that fast?"

"I forgot money." Jack laughed. Dean smiled, tossing him the card. "Be right back."

Jack disappeared again, and Dean went back to waiting by the oven.

12:00 PM.

"Have you seen this boy?" Castiel asked, setting a picture of Jack on the desk. The store clerk frowned and nodded.

"He came in around ten. Very polite." The clerk said. "Is he okay?"

"I don't know." Cas said. "When did he leave?"

"He bought bread and left. It must've been 10:05 or something. He went out the front door, probably to his car."

"Do you have footage of the parking lot?"

"Um… yeah." The clerk said. She went to the computer, scrolling back to ten. Castiel squinted over her shoulder. Jack walked out of the store, holding the bread. He looked around, about to fly back to the Bunker when someone came up behind him.

"Oh god." The clerk whispered. The person, unidentifiable, dragged Jack, now unconscious, into their black van. "I gotta call the police. I don't… I…"

"License plate." Castiel said. She zoomed the camera in on it. He memorized it quickly, then headed to the door.

"Where are you going?" She asked. Castiel paused in the doorway.

"I'm going to kill whoever did this." He said. She stared at him, her eyes wide, horrified. He looked back, his eyes burning with anger. "And I'm going to find him."


	2. Chapter 2

Jack woke up in darkness. He knew he had to fight, but he was too tired. His head hurt, the way it hurt with warding. The car hit a bump, and he was tossed up. His head hit the floor, and a sickening snap made him almost throw up. He was scared. They had stuffed him inside of something… not the trunk, more like a box in the back. It was like a coffin, no air or light penetrating the lid. He was choking on the air. There wasn't enough. Jack curled up, trying to remain calm. He felt warm, and he slipped back into sleep.

"We've got a track on the plates. They're heading south." Sam said. Castiel paced nervously.

"Where?"

"It looks like they're going to Wichita." Sam said. "We can't know for sure, and we'll lose them as soon as they get into the city."

"Let's go!" Dean said. Castiel was already running to the garage.

5:30 PM. Seven hours left.

"Hey sweetie." The woman said, smiling. She had long, wavy brown hair and a kind smile. Jack immediately trusted her. His head was hazy. He didn't know where he was, or what had happened. He remembered the car, vaguely. He remembered suffocating, and maybe somebody trying to revive him. Maybe he was dead. It seemed unlikely, though, as his head was still pounding and the nice lady was busy smiling at him, doing something.

"What're you doing?" He asked, unable to process it. She smiled.

"It's not your fault. You've been great. We're after somebody else." She said. "If we can avoid killing the other people, we will."

"Other?"

"We're in an apartment building. There's a family right below us. Two mommies and their little daughter. Don't think about warning them, because they won't hear you. But you've got to listen to me, okay? Don't move. If you move, this goes off and that little family and everyone else for the whole block gets blown away."

"What?" Jack felt like she had pulled the floor from underneath him, and he was falling. She seemed so nice, but the words that came out of her mouth were bad ones. He didn't like them. She smiled, touching his face. He tried to pull away, but she quickly stopped him.

"I said, 'don't move'." She said. "If this goes off, that's about four thousand people."

"Why?" He asked.

"Because they live here."

"No, why would you do that?"

"Because I want payback." She said. "I want to get back at the monsters who tore apart my family."

"Who…"

"Lucifer." She said. "And Sam and Dean Winchester."

"What?"

"Lucifer killed my husband and my son, and they let it happen." She whispered. She said it in a pouty sort of way, like she was talking to a baby. She stroked Jack's hair. He wanted to pull away again, but he was afraid of setting whatever she had attached to him off.

"Karyn, the Winchesters are on their way." Someone said. "They're an hour out."

"Good. Let's send them a message." Karyn said. She back up behind a camera on a tripod. "Sweetie, just say what I show you, and everything will be okay."

Jack breathed in slowly, nodding. He opened his eyes. She pressed the record button, and held up a card.

"This is your family. You took mine away, so I took yours. If he moves or the clock reaches midnight, a bomb will go off that will kill him and around four thousand innocent people. You have a few choices. Turn yourselves and the archangel Lucifer over, and accept your deaths, we'll let Jack and the four thousand live. Turn yourselves over to us without Lucifer, and we'll kill you and him, but the bomb won't go off. Don't, and four thousand people, including the kid, are going to go up in smoke. You can't disarm it without us. An explosion of this magnitude will scatter the atoms of anything close enough to it. Jack won't survive."

Karyn gave him a thumbs up. Jack fought back tears. He breathed in slowly. "You have until midnight, Winchesters. See you soon."

"Any quick words?" Karyn asked. She had a soft expression. He could see her as a mother, as someone who loved something. He wanted to believe in her, but he knew she was twisted. Karyn gestured for him to speak.

"I love you. I love all of you." He said. His tears got the better of him, and he sobbed, trying not to move his chest. Karyn filmed him crying for a little, and then handed the camera to her friend. The man looked at Jack with hatred in his eyes. Jack recognized him faintly. He looked like the security guard. Maybe his brother.

"Great job, sweetie." Karyn said. She walked over to him again, touching his hair gently. "I'm sorry that I have to hurt you. Just hope that everything will work out."

"It doesn't matter." Jack said, his voice cracking. "You're gonna kill my family."

"Well, when this is over, I can take care of you." Karyn said.

"I didn't hurt your family. This isn't my fight, or the Winchesters. You can take it out on my father, but not my family. They never want people to get hurt."

"We'll see." Karyn said.

8:16 PM. Four hours.

"He's so scared." Lucifer said quietly. He wasn't showing much emotion, but it was clear Anael was the only thing supporting him in that moment.

"What're you going to do?" Castiel asked. Lucifer thought for a minute.

"We'll respond. I'll force them to take me to him and disarm the bomb."

"What if we let them die?" Anael asked. "The innocent people. Just find out where Jack is, take him, let the bomb go off."

"No." Dean said. "No, that's too many people. We can't just let them die."

"You wouldn't be able to fly out of there fast enough." Castiel added. "You might survive that, but if Jack is sitting on a bomb, he'll be blown away."

"You… didn't just consider Anael's plan?" Dean asked angrily. Cas glared at him.

"We're running out of time. We've got to figure out who's doing this."

"Let's tell them we want to meet up." Sam said. "Go with Lucifer's original plan."

"Is that really going to work?"

"It's our only shot."

10:00 PM. Two hours.

"So glad you showed up." Karyn said. She stood in the abandoned warehouse, standing in front of a group of people. Some of them Sam and Dean recognized, others they didn't. Cas sadly looked at Wendy Vincente. Wendy had completely changed, wearing all black. She was wearing a leather jacket that must've belonged to her brother.

"Lucifer." Wendy said. Lucifer stared at her.

"I healed you." He said. "You can walk again."

"You killed my brother. You used to me to get to him," She said. "I wanna see you burn."

"We won't make a deal until we see that Jack is alive and safe, and the bomb is disarmed." Castiel said. Karyn smiled.

"No." She said. "You're going to die first. Trust my word."

"We need proof." Sam said.

"Proof?" Karyn held up her phone. "Hey, Alan! Is Jack alive?"

"For now." Alan replied through the phone. "Do you need me to set it off early?"

"No." She said. "Remember the code word."

"Okay, I'll wait." Alan said.

Alan glared at Jack, the phone in his hand. Jack fought back tears, listening to the phone. A fight broke out, the sound of yelling coming across the line. Alan listened. It seemed like forever, but finally Karyn yelled "Alan, get down here!"

Alan got up, rushing out the door.

"Don't move." Alan said. "Remember, it goes off at midnight."

Jack closed his eyes. He was starting to sweat from the pressure. He didn't know how long he would last.


	3. Chapter 3

11:30 PM. A half hour left.

The Winchesters were winning. They were just trying to disarm or knock out the enemies, but Lucifer and Anael were going a different route. Anael had Wendy on the ground, and was about to kill her when Dean stopped her.

"Stop!" He grabbed her blade. She pushed him angrily. "No killing!"

"Why?"

"We need someone to disarm the bomb!" He yelled. "And they're misguided."

"Then why don't you stop for misguided angels, or demons?" Anael asked. "Why is it okay to just kill them?"

"I don't have time to argue this." Dean said. He turned on Karyn, who was tied up. "Where's the kid?"

"It doesn't matter. Nobody is gonna stop that bomb." Karyn said. "All those people are gonna die, and it's your fault, again!"

"What you chose to do is not our fault."

"Look at the time." She smiled. "11:39."

"Tell us where he is!"

"2341 Reid Ave. Number 13." She said. "Have fun exploding."

Dean looked at Lucifer. "Can you take us there?"

"He can't go inside. Warding is too strong." Karyn laughed. "Good luck, Winchesters."

"DAMN IT!" Lucifer yelled.

"Sam, take the Impala. Find Jack. I'll watch them." Dean said. He put the keys in Sam's hands. Sam frowned, but nodded.

"How will I disarm the bomb?" Sam asked. Dean looked at him sadly. Mary hugged Sam, not saying a word. Then Cas. Then Dean.

"Don't let the kid die alone." Dean said. Sam nodded. He didn't say goodbye. He turned and ran for the car.

11:56 PM. Four minutes.

A bead of sweat fell down Jack's forehead. He struggled not to move. Duct tape was wrapped around his wrists, ankles, and chest, connecting the wires that could set it off at any movement. _It doesn't matter anymore,_ he thought. _At midnight, it's over._ The door opened with a bang, and Sam rushed in.

"SAM!" Jack cried. Sam ran to him, careful not to move him too much. Sam turned to the bomb, looking at the layout. He had disarmed bombs before, but whoever built this clearly knew what they were doing. Sam had never seen anything like it.

"Sam, there are people in this building." Jack said. "The fire alarm."

"I've got it." Sam said. He knew it didn't matter, and that the people wouldn't get far enough away, but it wasn't about that. If he could do anything, anything to make Jack and himself feel a little better, he would. He lit a match, holding it up to the smoke detector. The alarms went off, but not the sprinklers. There was no water.

11:57 PM. Two minutes.

Dean, Cas, and Mary stood together, quietly. Lucifer was pacing, unable to hold his anger inside.

"We should get out of the blast radius." Anael said. "Let's leave them. We'll search for Jack tomorrow."

"What if he does die?"

"Then we deal with that." Anael said. "We'll find him, okay. We have to step away."

"You go. I'll stay. I won't die anyways." Lucifer said. Anael sighed, nodding. She vanished. Cas closed his eyes, putting his head in his hands. Dean put his arm around Cas, trying to comfort him. He didn't know what to say.

"You know what I was doing, when Jack left? Watching TV." Cas said. "I should've been with him. This wouldn't've happened."

"It could've been worse."

"Four thousand people. Including the two I took an oath to protect." Cas said.

"You fulfilled it. You did it. You fought until the end." Dean said.

"I haven't yet." Cas said. Dean frowned.

"What do you-" Castiel grabbed Dean and Mary's shoulders. They vanished. Cas collapsed from the power drain. He was so tired.

11:58 PM. One minute.

Sam sat down by Jack's side. Jack's eyes were closed, and he was breathing in and out slowly, thinking.

"When you think of the way you're gonna die, what do you see?" Jack asked.

"I always hoped that I'd get married." Sam said. "I'm in a retirement home with my spouse, and we're happy. Maybe I die in my sleep."

"Dean always said he'd go out in a blaze of glory." Jack said softly.

"What about you?"

"I thought I'd never die." Jack said. "But here I am."

"You're amazing, Jack. Just like your mom said." Sam said.

"What?"

"You're amazing. You… you're my son. You're my son. And I am so proud of you." Sam said. He put his hand on Jack's. Sam didn't look up, but he heard Jack crying. Sam could be happy, at least. He had finally said something he had wanted to say for a long time. He hadn't been able to tell Jack how he felt, but now he had.

"I-" Jack was going to say something, but he never finished it.


	4. Chapter 4

12:00 AM. The bomb went off.

Everything was gold. Sam looked around. It was a vast darkness with gold veils. He could see through them, pushing them aside, searching for something. He wasn't really walking. He was just there, almost floating through this world, searching. He felt pain. It started in his chest, and reached out from there. Pain everywhere, but it wasn't as much as he thought it would've been. There was something there. An amulet.

Sam reached out and grabbed it. It glowed in his hand. It was the amulet that showed that God was near, and it was glowing. Sam wasn't sure what to make of that.

"Dean." He said softly, remembered. This was Dean's. He had given it to Dean as a gift, on Christmas, years ago. And somehow it was here, in this empty space.

"Am I dead?" He asked no one.

"No." Nobody replied back. He knew that voice. It was a woman's. He hadn't known her that well, so it took him a few seconds to recognize that tone.

"Goddess?" He asked.

"I hate that name." She replied, stepping into the light. Amara looked the same as she had a few years ago, with her perfect hair and black dress. A little smile curled on her lips.

"Amara…"

"Yes?"

"Where am I?"

"In your own head." She said. "You're asleep. Jack is worried, but it'll be fine."

"Jack? He's alive?"

"A miracle, perhaps." Amara said. "Somehow, he had a little surge in power. Maybe it helped him contain the explosion. Maybe you were knocked unconscious when that happened, and maybe I'm showing you a version of your soul."

"Why?"

"Why? Why do we do anything, Sam?" Amara said. "I came about something else. My brother… he left a lot of things open. Unfixed. And what is life without chaos? But he owed you something, and I'm here to help you get it."

"What?"

"My brother never gave you his gift, so I'm giving one to you." She said. "Not just the four thousand lives, and your family. You won't have nightmares anymore."

"Why?"

"Why do you keep asking why? You've earned this." She said. "The nightmares… they can go away, and you've earned a good life. No more nightmares."

"Th- thank you, Amara."

"Don't thank me." She said. "Also, I have another gift… for everyone, more or less. You'll see it when you wake up. And Sam…"

"Yeah?"

"He is your son." Amara said. She smiled, vanishing into the dark. Sam opened his eyes to see Jack, and his tear stroked face, in front of him.

"He's okay!" Jack said. He turned to face someone. "He's okay."

"He's awake?"

"Yeah!" Jack said. Sam's ears rang. The other person kneeled down next to Sam. He looked at her, his eyes blurry but sure of who she was.

"Jack told me about the bomb. He says you gave him the strength he needed to save everyone." She said, smiling. "But he hasn't told me how long I was gone."

"Not too long." Sam smiled weakly. Eileen's face came into focus. "Not too long."

The second surprise came a few days later. Sam, Jack, and Eileen returned to the Bunker. Lucifer probably realized that they had survived and was now planning a new attack on them, now that he knew they had Jack. Karyn, Alan, Wendy, and the others were going to be on trial for setting the bomb. It had supposedly malfunctioned, but they would get enough years in prison to make sure Jack was safe. Cas followed Jack around for the next few weeks, never letting him out of his sight. And the surprise… it came at breakfast.

"Pancakes?" Dean said.

"Chocolate chips?" Jack asked.

"I've got them." Dean smiled. He poured a little too many on Jack's pancakes. The family sat at the table. Almost all of the seats were taken. Just one was left open, unpurposefully. There was a knock on the Bunker door, that echoed through the whole facility. Mary's pancake slipped off her fork. Everyone looked up but Eileen, who couldn't hear it and was focused on her pancakes anyways.

"Cas, can you get that?" Sam said.

"I'll go with you." Dean said. They walked to the door. They opened it, and took a moment of silence to acknowledge the person on the other side of the door.

"Charlie." Dean said softly. Charlie smiled.

"Hey Dean." She said. "I'm back."


End file.
